LOCKPORT — The development partnership that renovated the building at 4 Lock St. for the Lock Tender tap room has begun an overhaul of the adjoining building using a similar approach.
As Harrison Development, Chuck Bell and Michael Zimmerman purchased the corner building at 7 Ontario St. in late 2024 and are now renovating the 1880 structure into a food establishment with upper-floor apartments. The partners have both worked as city economic development directors, Bell for the City of Lockport and Zimmerman for the City of North Tonawanda.
“This is a pretty big undertaking for us,” Bell said. “If we can stabilize this building, and fill it (with tenants) we will be happy. I’ve always been fixated on the locks since I worked for the city.”
Bell said the property was attractive as another opportunity to round out the Locks Heritage District.
“The vision the city has to make Lockport a destination is really exciting,” Zimmerman said. “We want to be a part of it.”
After purchasing the building for $85,000, Bell said the project received a $500,000 Restore New York grant in late 2024.
“We definitely would not be able to make the numbers work without it,” Bell said. The total project cost, including the acquisition, is just over $1 million.
Workers have already scraped off stucco from the corner building and a bricklayer was filling an opening that was made in an exterior wall Thursday. Bell said crews would strip off the remaining white paint to reveal the brick.
“The experience next door led us to believe there would be something interesting underneath,” Bell said of discovering arches in the brick front of the Lock Tender. The front of 7 Ontario St. also features flat-faced Doric wood columns embedded in the brick which the partners want to preserve.
“It was vacant for quite a while and was once used for an office,” Bell said. “We definitely want to do food and beverage. We don’t have an operator yet.”
Bell said the Ontario Street side of the building can be used for sidewalk cafe tables.
The partners said they are open to any style of food service. “Whatever compliments and fits in with the neighborhood,” Bell said.
The building has already been gutted inside and restroom space has been studded out. A gravel-floored garage in the back will be finished to house a full-service kitchen and have a staircase up to two one-bedroom luxury apartments on the second floor. Bell said the apartments feature an original brick arch in the interior, along with high-grade appliances.
“They’re pretty nice sized,” he said of the apartment layouts. “We really have a shortage of housing. I’m really pleased to see the demand for 4 Lock Street,” he said of the finished apartments above the Lock Tender. “I think we’re on the right track.”